In intractable neurological diseases such as dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease (PD), not only cognitive dysfunction such as forgetfulness but also motor dysfunction often appears.However, the cause is unknown, and effective treatment for both disorders has not been achieved.
On the other hand, in the southern part of the Kii Peninsula, dementia characterized by three symptoms of "progressive amyotrophic lateral disease similar to ALS", "motor dysfunction similar to PD", and "cognitive dysfunction with conspicuous decrease in motivation" It occurs frequently and is called Kii ALS / Parkinson's dementia complex (Kii ALS / PDC).If the cause of Kii ALS / PDC with both cognitive dysfunction and motor dysfunction can be elucidated, it is expected to be useful for the development of treatment / prevention of dementia and intractable neurological diseases.
Under these circumstances, a joint research group of the Quantum Science and Technology Research and Development Organization, Mie University, and Chiba University has found that tau protein (hereinafter referred to as tau) accumulated in the brain causes various symptoms including forgetfulness in Kii ALS / PDC. It was clarified that it could be.
Since previous studies using the postmortem brain of Kii ALS / PDC patients confirmed the accumulation of tau in the brain, the research group used a technique for visualizing tau in the living brain of Kii ALS / PDC patients. We investigated the relationship between the site of high tau accumulation and clinical symptoms.As a result, patients with Kii ALS / PDC with severe cognitive dysfunction have more tau accumulation in a wide range of brain regions, and more tau accumulation in the pyramidal tract through which motor nerve fibers that control body movement pass. ALS-like motor dysfunction was found to be prominent in patients.
These results suggest that brain function related to the site of tau accumulation may be impaired, and early diagnosis and treatment targeting tau lesions in the brain can be used for both cognitive and motor dysfunction. It is expected that it will lead to the realization of prevention.
Paper information:[Neurology] Tau imaging detects distinctive distribution of tau pathology in ALS / PDC on the Kii Peninsula
